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Curtis Axel
On June 1, 2010, it was announced that Hennig would take part in the second season of NXT, using the ring name Michael McGillicutty, with Kofi Kingston as his pro. He made his NXT debut on the June 8 episode, but did not compete in a match. He made his in-ring debut on the following edition of NXT, teaming with Kingston in a tag team match, where they defeated Mark Henry and Lucky Cannon. In the first poll on June 29, McGillicutty was ranked third, behind Kaval and Percy Watson. On the July 20 episode of NXT, McGillicutty earned immunity from elimination in the next poll by completing an obstacle course in the fastest time. On the following episode of NXT, he moved up to first place in the second poll. After six consecutive victories, McGillicutty suffered his first loss on the August 3 episode of NXT, when he was defeated by pro The Miz. On August 9 the rookies appeared in a six-man tag team match on Raw, in which McGillicutty teamed with Husky Harris and Alex Riley to defeat Lucky Cannon, Kaval and Percy Watson. The following night on NXT, his team lost a rematch when McGillicutty was pinned by Kaval. In the next poll later that night, McGillicutty relinquished the first place ranking back to Kaval, slipping to second place. In the season finale on August 31, McGillicutty ended the competition in second place, being beaten by Kaval. At the end of the show, McGillicutty turned heel by attacking Kaval with the other eliminated rookies. In October 2010, at Hell in a Cell, McGillicutty and Husky Harris disguised themselves as fans and interfered during the match between John Cena and Wade Barrett. This allowed Barrett to pin Cena and win the match, forcing Cena to join The Nexus per the pre-match stipulation. McGillicutty's and Harris' identities were revealed on the following day's episode of Raw, though Barrett claimed he had not asked for their help and refused to make them full time members of The Nexus. The following week, McGillicutty and Harris interfered in a match between Cena and The Miz, costing Cena the match and prompting Barrett to give them the opportunity to win membership in The Nexus. On the October 18 episode of Raw, McGillicutty and Harris were unable to earn a place in The Nexus when they lost to Cena and Randy Orton in a tag team match. Despite this, Barrett confirmed both he and Harris were members on the October 25 episode of Raw. In January 2011 CM Punk took over The Nexus and had each of its members put through an initiation. McGillicutty passed his initiation, a beatdown from the rest of the group, and was allowed to remain a member of Nexus, alongside Punk, Harris and David Otunga. The following month, Punk was announced as the WrestleMania XXVII opponent for Randy Orton, and as a result, each member of The Nexus was scheduled to face Orton in the month prior to WrestleMania. McGillicutty faced and lost to Orton on the February 28 episode of Raw, and after the match Orton punted McGillicutty in the head. The angle was used to write McGillicutty off television as he was scheduled to be sent back to Florida Championship Wrestling to be repackaged. Despite this, McGillicutty returned on the April 11 episode of Raw with the other The New Nexus members, preventing Orton from earning a WWE Championship match. On the May 23 episode of Raw, McGillicutty teamed with fellow Nexus member David Otunga to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Kane and The Big Show with the help interference from fellow New Nexus members Mason Ryan and Punk. They made their only successful title defense against The Usos on the July 29 edition of SmackDown. After CM Punk left the New Nexus when his WWE contract expired on July 17, Otunga and McGillicutty competed against Santino Marella and Zack Ryder on the August 1 edition of Raw without any Nexus gear or armbands, and with all Nexus logos removed from their TitanTron, effectively signaling the end of the New Nexus. On the August 22 episode of Raw, Otunga and McGillicutty lost the Tag Team Championship to Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne). After a minor feud with Jerry Lawler,the duo parted ways. McGillicutty returned on the October 6 edition of WWE Superstars, defeating Percy Watson. On the October 20 edition of WWE Superstars he teamed up with Drew McIntyre, they lost against WWE Tag Team Champions Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne). He started to have a mini feud with Alex Riley. On the November 24 edition of WWE Superstars he ended Riley's winning streak of 3 matches in a shock victory. He then fought Riley again on January 4, edition of NXT Redemption in a losing effort. On the January 26 edition of of WWE Superstars, McGillicutty was defeated by Kofi Kingston. He continued his losing streak on February 9, edition of WWE Superstars, in a tag team match with JTG against Primo & Epico and on February 15, edition of NXT Redemption against Percy Watson. On February 23, edition of WWE Superstars, he broke his losing streak by defeating Alex Riley In late February 2012, McGillicutty mocked Tyson Kidd's lack of wrestling heritage, starting a feud. McGillicutty then beat Kidd on the February 29 episode of NXT Redemption. McGillicutty continued to insult Kidd by claiming that Kidd would never be a true 'Hart', and Kidd received a rematch on the March 21 edition of NXT Redemption, where he defeated McGillicutty. Kidd and McGillicutty faced off in a third match on the April 11 episode of NXT, resulting in Kidd triumphant over McGillicutty. McGillicutty then began appearing on the sixth season of NXT, which became the developmental territory for WWE, losing to rival Tyson Kidd on the first episode on June 20. On the July 26 episode of NXT, McGillicutty teamed with Johnny Curtis to defeat Bo Dallas and Derrick Bateman. Commentator Byron Saxton dubbed the tag team Aggressively Weird, a merger of adjectives based on McGuillicutty's aggressive style and Curtis' weird personality. Although the team had an auspicious beginning, they experienced their first loss against the team of Kidd and Justin Gabriel on the August 23 NXT episode. They would also lose to The Usos on the August 16 edition of Superstars. On the August 8 episode of NXT, McGillicutty was inserted into the Gold Rush Tournament to crown the first NXT Champion, where he defeated Justin Gabriel in the quarter-finals during the August 8 episode. In the semi-finals on August 15, McGillicutty faced Seth Rollins, who won the match. On the September 12 episode of NXT, McGillicutty defeated Tyson Kidd to become the #1 contender to the NXT Championship. On the October 10 episode of NXT, McGillicutty was defeated by champion Seth Rollins. He got another championship shot (this time, for the WWE Tag Team Championship). He and Johnny Curtis would lose to Team Hell No on NXT in November. On December 14, he lost to Brodus Clay on WWE Superstars. Category:RAW Superstars Category:WWE Tag Team Champions